Utah/Arizona: in Search of the Wave

[USA.ARIZONA 27981] ’The Wave.’ Locally called ‘The Wave’, this geological wonder in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. The local geological formation is called Navajo Sandstone and is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. However the undulating surface seen here is not so old but is the result of more recent erosion of the sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27984] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27989] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27991] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27997] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28006] ’Detail of The Wave.’ Locally called ‘The Wave’, this geological wonder in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28008] ’Coloured bands in Navajo Sandstone.’ Navajo Sandstone, seen here in The Wave (Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Minerals of iron oxide, deposited by groundwater after the accumulation of the sand, have created red, orange and yellow bands. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 28012] ’Coyote Buttes nature reserve.’ The strange landscape of Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) is made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. It is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Minerals of iron oxide, deposited by groundwater after the accumulation of the sand, have created red, orange and yellow colours. The light dome-like structures in the foreground are locally called "Brains Rocks". Photo Paul Smit & Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28018a] ’Coyote Buttes nature reserve.’ The strange landscape of Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) is made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. It is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Minerals of iron oxide, deposited by groundwater after the accumulation of the sand, have created red, orange and yellow colours. The light dome-like structures on the right are locally called "Brains Rocks". Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28020] ’Brains Rocks.’ Giant turtles? Roofs of the mud huts of an as yet undiscovered people? The Brain Rocks can be found in Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) and are made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. The polygonal jointing is the result from expansion and contraction of the rock near its surface where temperature fluctuations are most extreme. Photo Mick Palarczyk & Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28022] ’Erosion forms in Paria Canyon.’ In the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado) erosion has formed weird shapes in the local Navajo Sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28024] ’Erosion forms in Paria Canyon.’ In the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado) erosion has formed weird shapes in the local Navajo Sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.UTAH 28027] ’Marbles of sandstone.’ These marbles of sandstone on the plateau above the Paria Canyon are the same things as the blueberries found on Mars. They are concretions that are a bit harder than the encasing sandstone and were incorporated in the pinnacle. When they were eroded out of the surrounding stone, the marbles rolled down. NASA came to Utah to study the phenomenon. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27983] ’The Wave.’ Locally called ‘The Wave’, this geological wonder in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. The local geological formation is called Navajo Sandstone and is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. However the undulating surface seen here is not so old but is the result of more recent erosion of the sandstone. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27986] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27990] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 27994] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28000] ’Hiker in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may think he is stepping into a sticky red fluid with white stripes, something like sour cream stirred into pumpkin soup. But this geological wonder actually consists of 200 million years old fossilized sand dunes. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28007] ’Taking a nap in The Wave.’ The hiker who enters "The Wave" in the Coyote Buttes nature reserve (part of the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) may find himself surrounded by a dream-like sandstone landscape. The fine layers of the stone are composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28009] ’Coloured bands in Navajo Sandstone.’ Navajo Sandstone, seen here in The Wave (Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Minerals of iron oxide, deposited by groundwater after the accumulation of the sand, have created red, orange and yellow bands. Photo Paul Smit.

[USA.ARIZONA 28018] ’Coyote Buttes nature reserve.’ The strange landscape of Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) is made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. It is composed primarily of wind-blown sand from a vast ancient desert. Minerals of iron oxide, deposited by groundwater after the accumulation of the sand, have created red, orange and yellow colours. The light dome-like structures on the right are locally called "Brains Rocks". Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.ARIZONA 28019] ’Pavement of giants.’ Examining the surface of the Brain Rocks, which seems to be paved with enormous pentagonal stones, you feel like an archaeologist studying a long-lost world of giants. The Brain Rocks can be found in Coyote Buttes nature reserve (in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness) and are made up by a 200 million years old geological formation called Navajo Sandstone. The polygonal jointing is the result from expansion and contraction of the rock near its surface where temperature fluctuations are most extreme. Photo Paul Smit

[USA.UTAH 28021] ’Erosion forms in Paria Canyon.’ In the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado) erosion has formed weird shapes in the local Navajo Sandstone. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28023] ’Erosion forms in Paria Canyon.’ In the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado) erosion has formed weird shapes in the local Navajo Sandstone. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

[USA.UTAH 28026] ’Photographing in Paria Canyon.’ Photographer Mick Palarczyk at work in the canyon of the Paria River (a tributary of the Colorado). Photo Paul Smit.